Sounding Reference Signal Design

ABSTRACT

Methods and devices for assigning sounding reference signals (SRS) resources to UEs in a wireless communication network are provided. Configuration information is sent to a UE, the configuration information pertaining to a first sequence identifier (ID) to be used by the UE to generate a plurality of SRS sequences to be sent by the UE as at least part of a first SRS. Each SRS sequence of the plurality of SRS sequences is a function of a respective SRS sequence root that is a function of the first sequence ID. The first sequence ID may be a UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of a UE-specific ID associated with the UE, such as a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/927,353 entitled “SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL DESIGN” filed Mar. 21,2018, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/476,508 entitled “SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL DESIGN” filed Mar.24, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/502,498entitled “SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL DESIGN” filed May 5, 2017, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method forwireless communications, and, in particular embodiments, to a system andmethod for sounding reference design.

BACKGROUND

In wireless communications sounding reference signals (SRSs) may be usedfor a variety of purposes including channel state information (CSI)acquisition, beam management and Uplink (UL)-based radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurements.

Contrary to a typical LTE cell serviced by one transmit/receive pointwith a unique cell ID, a New Radio (NR) cell, in a NR system, mayinclude many transmit/receive points (TRPs) using the same NR cell ID,which NR cell may cover a much broader area. As a result, the number ofactive user equipments (UEs) in an NR Cell may far exceed the number ofactive UEs in a typical LTE Cell. There is a need, therefore, for animproved SRS approach for use in such NR systems.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the application to present methods and structuresthat overcome the difficulties of operating a cellular network with oneor more New Radio (NR) cells, particularly in the management of soundingreference signals (SRSs) transmitted by User Equipment (UE).

According to a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a method ofassigning sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork. The method according to the first aspect includes: sendingfirst configuration information pertaining to a first sequenceidentifier (ID) to be used by a first user equipment (UE) to generate afirst plurality of SRS sequences to be sent by the first UE as at leastpart of a first SRS, each SRS sequence of the first plurality of SRSsequences being a function of a respective SRS sequence root that is afunction of the first sequence ID.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first configurationinformation includes information to selectively enable or disabledependence of the SRS sequence roots on an SRS sequence scheduling time.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the SRS sequence schedulingtime has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first plurality of SRSsequences are to be sent by the first UE in respective orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol intervals within a timeslot.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first sequence ID overridesa default sequence ID.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the default sequence ID for thefirst UE is a function of a UE-specific ID associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first sequence IDs is afunction of a UE-specific ID associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the UE-specific ID associatedwith the first UE is a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI)associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first sequence ID is afunction of a UE group-specific sequence ID that is assigned to a UEgroup to which the first UE belongs.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further includes:sending second configuration information pertaining to a second sequenceID to be used by a second UE to generate a second plurality of SRSsequences to be sent by the second UE as at least part of a second SRS,each SRS sequence of the second plurality of SRS sequences being afunction of a respective SRS sequence root that is a function of thesecond sequence ID.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first plurality of SRSsequences are to be sent by the first UE as at least part of the firstSRS using a first time and frequency resource, the second plurality ofSRS sequences are to be sent by the second UE as at least part of thesecond SRS using a second time and frequency resource, and the firsttime and frequency resource at least partially overlaps with the secondtime and frequency resource.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further includes:sending first physical resource mapping configuration informationpertaining to a first allowed number of SRS bandwidths to be used by thefirst UE for physical resource mapping of the first SRS; and sendingsecond physical resource mapping configuration information pertaining toa second allowed number of SRS bandwidths to be used by the second UEfor physical resource mapping of the second SRS.

In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further includes:sending third configuration information pertaining to a third sequenceID to be used by the first UE to generate a third plurality of SRSsequences to be sent by the first UE as at least part of the first SRS,each SRS sequence of the third plurality of SRS sequences being afunction of a respective SRS sequence root that is a function of thethird sequence ID.

According to a second aspect, the present disclosure provides atransmit/receive point (TRP) that includes: a wireless communicationinterface; a memory storage comprising instructions; and one or moreprocessors in communication with the memory and the wirelesscommunication interface. The one or more processors execute theinstructions to: send first configuration information pertaining to afirst sequence identifier (ID) to be used by a first user equipment (UE)to generate a first plurality of SRS sequences to be sent by the firstUE as at least part of a first SRS, each SRS sequence of the firstplurality of SRS sequences being a function of a respective SRS sequenceroot that is a function of the first sequence ID.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first configurationinformation include information to selectively enable or disabledependence of the SRS sequence roots on an SRS sequence scheduling time.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the SRS sequence schedulingtime has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first plurality of SRSsequences are to be sent by the first UE in respective orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol intervals within a timeslot.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first sequence IDs is afunction of a UE-specific sequence ID associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the UE-specific ID associatedwith the first UE is a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI)associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: send second configuration informationpertaining to a second sequence ID to be used by a second UE to generatea second plurality of SRS sequences to be sent by the second UE as atleast part of a second SRS, each SRS sequence of the second plurality ofSRS sequences being a function of a respective SRS sequence root that isa function of the second sequence ID.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first plurality of SRSsequences are to be sent by the first UE as at least part of the firstSRS using a first time and frequency resource, the second plurality ofSRS sequences are to be sent by the second UE as at least part of thesecond SRS using a second time and frequency resource, and the firsttime and frequency resource at least partially overlaps with the secondtime and frequency resource.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: send first physical resource mappingconfiguration information pertaining to a first allowed number of SRSbandwidths to be used by the first UE for physical resource mapping ofthe first SRS; and send second physical resource mapping configurationinformation pertaining to a second allowed number of SRS bandwidths tobe used by the second UE for physical resource mapping of the secondSRS.

In some embodiments of the second aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: send third configuration informationpertaining to a third sequence ID to be used by the first UE to generatea third plurality of SRS sequences to be sent by the first UE as atleast part of the first SRS, each SRS sequence of the third plurality ofSRS sequences being a function of a respective SRS sequence root that isa function of the third sequence ID.

According to a third aspect, the present disclosure provides a method ofgenerating sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork. The method includes: receiving, at a user equipment (UE),configuration information pertaining to a first sequence identifier(ID); determining, at the UE, a first plurality of sounding referencesignal (SRS) sequence roots as a function of the first sequence ID;generating, at the UE, a first plurality of SRS sequences based in parton the first plurality of SRS sequence roots; and sending, from the UE,the first plurality of SRS sequences as at least part of a first SRS.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first configurationinformation includes information to selectively enable or disabledependence of the SRS sequence roots on an SRS sequence scheduling time.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the SRS sequence schedulingtime has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, sending the first plurality ofSRS sequences as at least part of a first SRS includes sending the firstplurality of SRS sequences in respective orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) symbol intervals within a time slot.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first sequence ID overridesa default sequence ID.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the default sequence ID for theUE is a function of a UE-specific ID associated with the UE.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first sequence ID is afunction of a UE-specific ID associated with the UE.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the UE-specific ID associatedwith the UE is a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI)associated with the UE.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first sequence ID is afunction of a UE group-specific sequence ID that is assigned to a UEgroup to which the UE belongs.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first SRS is to be sent bythe UE using a first time and frequency resource that at least partiallyoverlaps with a second time and frequency resource used by a second UEto send a second SRS, wherein the UEs are served by respective subsetsof at least one transmit/receive point in the same cell.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, sending the first plurality ofSRS sequences as at least part of the first SRS includes mapping thefirst plurality of SRS sequences to physical resources based on anetwork configurable number of allowed SRS bandwidths.

In some embodiments of the third aspect, the method further includes,determining, at the UE, the number of allowed SRS bandwidths based on aUE-specific ID associated with the UE or a UE group-specific IDassociated with a UE group to which the UE belongs.

According to a fourth aspect, the present disclosure provides a userequipment (UE) that includes: a wireless communication interface; amemory storage comprising instructions; and one or more processors incommunication with the memory and the wireless communication interface.The one or more processors execute the instructions to: receiveconfiguration information pertaining to a first sequence identifier(ID); determine a first plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS)sequence roots as a function of the first sequence ID; generate a firstplurality of SRS sequences based at least in part on the first pluralityof SRS sequence roots; and send the first plurality of SRS sequence asat least part of a first SRS.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the first configurationinformation includes information to selectively enable or disabledependence of the SRS sequence roots on an SRS sequence scheduling time.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the SRS sequence schedulingtime has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, sending the first plurality ofSRS sequences as at least part of a first SRS includes sending the firstplurality of SRS sequences in respective orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) symbol intervals within a time slot.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the first sequence ID is afunction of a UE-specific ID associated with the UE.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the UE-specific ID associatedwith the UE is a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI)associated with the UE.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the first SRS is to be sent bythe UE using a first time and frequency resource that at least partiallyoverlaps with a second time and frequency resource used by a second UEto send a second SRS, wherein the UEs are served by respective subsetsof at least one transmit/receive point in the same cell.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, sending the first plurality ofSRS sequences as at least part of the first SRS includes mapping thefirst plurality of SRS sequences to physical resources based on anetwork configurable number of allowed SRS bandwidths.

In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: determine the number of allowed SRSbandwidths based on a UE-specific ID associated with the UE or a UEgroup-specific ID associated with a UE group to which the UE belongs.

According to a fifth aspect, the present disclosure provides a method ofassigning sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork, the method including: sending first configuration informationpertaining to a first sounding reference signal (SRS) sequence to besent by a first user equipment (UE), the first SRS sequence being afunction of the first configuration information and a first SRS sequenceroot that is a function of a first UE-specific sequence identifier (ID)that is a function of a first UE-specific ID associated with the firstUE.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the first UE-specific IDassociated with the first UE is a Cell-Radio Network TemporaryIdentifier (C-RNTI) associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the first configurationinformation comprises at least one of: SRS sequence scheduled timinginformation, SRS sequence length information, physical resource mappinginformation, transmission comb information, cyclic shift information,and frequency hopping information.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the first configurationinformation further comprises information to selectively enable ordisable dependence of the first SRS sequence root on the SRS sequencescheduled timing information.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the SRS sequence scheduledtiming information has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) symbol time granularity.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the method further includes:sending second configuration information pertaining to a second SRSsequence to be sent by a second UE, the second SRS sequence being afunction of the second configuration information and a second SRSsequence root that is a function of a second UE-specific sequence IDthat is a function of a second UE-specific ID associated with the secondUE.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the first SRS sequence is to besent by the first UE using a first time and frequency resource, thesecond SRS sequence is to be sent by the second UE using a second timeand frequency resource, and the first time and frequency resource atleast partially overlaps with the second time and frequency resource.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the first and second SRSsequence roots are different; and the first and second SRS sequences aremapped to non-overlapping time and frequency resource elements.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the method further includes:sending third configuration information pertaining to a third SRSsequence to be sent by the first UE as part of a first SRS that alsoincludes the first SRS sequence, the third SRS sequence being a functionof the third configuration information and a third SRS sequence rootthat is a function of a third UE-specific sequence ID that is a functionof the first UE-specific ID associated with the first UE; and sendingfourth configuration information pertaining to a fourth SRS sequence tobe sent by the second UE as part of a second SRS that also includes thesecond SRS sequence, the fourth SRS sequence being a function of thefourth configuration information and a fourth SRS sequence root that isa function of a fourth UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of thesecond UE-specific ID associated with the second UE.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the third and fourth SRSsequences are mapped to fully overlapping time and frequency resourceelements; and the third and fourth SRS sequences are orthogonal.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the third and fourth SRSsequence roots are the same; and the fourth SRS sequence is a cyclicshift of the third SRS sequence.

In some embodiments of the fifth aspect, the method further includesreceiving, from the first UE, the first SRS that includes at least thefirst SRS sequence and the third SRS sequence.

According to a sixth aspect, the present disclosure provides atransmit/receive point (TRP) comprising: a wireless communicationinterface; a memory storage comprising instructions; and one or moreprocessors in communication with the memory storage and the wirelesscommunication interface, wherein the one or more processors execute theinstructions to: send first configuration information pertaining to afirst sounding reference signal (SRS) sequence to be sent by a firstuser equipment (UE), the first SRS sequence being a function of thefirst configuration information and a first SRS sequence root that is afunction of a first UE-specific sequence identifier (ID) that is afunction of a first UE-specific ID associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first UE-specific IDassociated with the first UE is a Cell-Radio Network TemporaryIdentifier (C-RNTI) associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first configurationinformation comprises at least one of: SRS sequence scheduled timinginformation, SRS sequence length information, physical resource mappinginformation, transmission comb information, cyclic shift information,and frequency hopping information.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first configurationinformation further comprises information to selectively enable ordisable dependence of the first SRS sequence root on the SRS sequencescheduled timing information.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the SRS sequence scheduledtiming information has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) symbol time granularity.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: send second configuration informationpertaining to a second SRS sequence to be sent by a second UE, thesecond SRS sequence being a function of the second configurationinformation and a second SRS sequence root that is a function of asecond UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of a secondUE-specific ID associated with the second UE.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first SRS sequence is to besent by the first UE using a first time and frequency resource, thesecond SRS sequence is to be sent by the second UE using a second timeand frequency resource, and the first time and frequency resource atleast partially overlaps with the second time and frequency resource.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the first and second SRSsequence roots are different; and the first and second SRS sequences aremapped to non-overlapping time and frequency resource elements.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: send third configuration informationpertaining to a third SRS sequence to be sent by the first UE as part ofa first SRS that also includes the first SRS sequence, the third SRSsequence being a function of the third configuration information and athird SRS sequence root that is a function of a third UE-specificsequence ID that is a function of the first UE-specific ID associatedwith the first UE; and send fourth configuration information pertainingto a fourth SRS sequence to be sent by the second UE as part of a secondSRS that also includes the second SRS sequence, the fourth SRS sequencebeing a function of the fourth configuration information and a fourthSRS sequence root that is a function of a fourth UE-specific sequence IDthat is a function of the second UE-specific ID associated with thesecond UE.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the third and fourth SRSsequences are mapped to fully overlapping time and frequency resourceelements; and the third and fourth SRS sequences are orthogonal.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the third and fourth SRSsequence roots are the same; and the fourth SRS sequence is a cyclicshift of the third SRS sequence.

In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: receive, from the first UE, the first SRSthat includes at least the first SRS sequence and the third SRSsequence.

According to a seventh aspect, the present disclosure provides a methodof generating sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork, the method including: receiving, at a user equipment (UE),first configuration information pertaining to a first sounding referencesignal (SRS) sequence; determining, at the UE, a first soundingreference signal (SRS) sequence root as a function of a firstUE-specific sequence identifier (ID) that is a function of a firstUE-specific ID associated with the UE; generating, at the UE, the firstSRS sequence based at least in part on the first configurationinformation and the first SRS sequence root; and sending, from the UE,the first SRS sequence as at least part of a first SRS.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the first UE-specific IDassociated with the UE is a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier(C-RNTI) associated with the UE.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the first configurationinformation comprises at least one of: SRS sequence scheduled timinginformation, SRS sequence length information, physical resource mappinginformation, transmission comb information, cyclic shift information,and frequency hopping information.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the SRS sequence scheduledtiming has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the first configurationinformation further comprises information to selectively enable ordisable dependence of the first SRS sequence root on the SRS sequencescheduled timing information, and the method further comprises: enablingor disabling the dependence of the first SRS sequence root on the SRSsequence scheduling time in accordance with the first configurationinformation.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, determining the first SRSsequence root comprises determining a plurality of SRS sequence roots,inclusive of the first SRS sequence root, that are each a function ofthe first UE-specific sequence ID; generating the first SRS sequencecomprises generating a plurality of first SRS sequences, inclusive ofthe first SRS sequence, based at least in part on the plurality of firstSRS sequence roots; and sending the first SRS sequence as at least partof the first SRS comprises sending the plurality of first SRS sequencesas at least part of the first SRS.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, each first SRS sequence rootof the plurality of first SRS sequence roots is a function of arespective OFDM symbol time.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the method further includes:determining, at the UE, a third SRS sequence root as a function of athird UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of the firstUE-specific ID associated with the UE; generating, at the UE, a thirdSRS sequence based at least in part on the third SRS sequence root; andsending, from the UE, the third SRS sequence as part of the first SRS.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the first SRS is sent by theUE using a first time and frequency resource that at least partiallyoverlaps with a second time and frequency resource used by a second UEto send a second SRS, wherein the UEs are served by respective subsetsof at least one transmit/receive point (TRP) in the same cell.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, sending the first SRSsequence as at least part of the first SRS comprises mapping the firstSRS sequence to physical resources based on a network configurablenumber of allowed SRS bandwidths.

In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the method further includes,determining, at the UE, the number of allowed SRS bandwidths based onthe first UE-specific ID associated with the UE or a UE group-specificID associated with a UE group to which the UE belongs.

According to an eighth aspect, the present disclosure provides a userequipment (UE) comprising: a wireless communication interface; a memorystorage comprising instructions; and one or more processors incommunication with the memory and the wireless communication interface,wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to: receivefirst configuration information pertaining to a first sounding referencesignal (SRS) sequence; determine a first sounding reference signal (SRS)sequence root as a function of a first UE-specific sequence identifier(ID) that is a function of a first UE-specific ID associated with theUE; generate the first SRS sequence based at least in part on the firstconfiguration information and the first SRS sequence root; and send thefirst SRS sequence as at least part of a first SRS.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the first UE-specific IDassociated with the UE is a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier(C-RNTI) associated with the UE.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the first configurationinformation comprises at least one of: SRS sequence scheduled timinginformation, SRS sequence length information, physical resource mappinginformation, transmission comb information, cyclic shift information,and frequency hopping information.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the SRS sequence scheduledtiming has an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the first configurationinformation further comprises information to selectively enable ordisable dependence of the first SRS sequence root on the SRS sequencescheduled timing information, and the one or more processors execute theinstructions to: enable or disable the dependence of the first SRSsequence root on the SRS sequence scheduling time in accordance with thefirst configuration information.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, determining the first SRSsequence root comprises determining a plurality of SRS sequence roots,inclusive of the first SRS sequence root, that are each a function ofthe first UE-specific sequence ID; generating the first SRS sequencecomprises generating a plurality of first SRS sequences, inclusive ofthe first SRS sequence, based at least in part on the plurality of firstSRS sequence roots; and sending the first SRS sequence as at least partof the first SRS comprises sending the plurality of first SRS sequencesas at least part of the first SRS.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, each first SRS sequence rootof the plurality of first SRS sequence roots is a function of arespective OFDM symbol time.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: determine a third SRS sequence root as afunction of a third UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of thefirst UE-specific ID associated with the UE; generate a third SRSsequence based at least in part on the third SRS sequence root; and sendthe third SRS sequence as part of the first SRS.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the first SRS is sent by theUE using a first time and frequency resource that at least partiallyoverlaps with a second time and frequency resource used by a second UEto send a second SRS, wherein the UEs are served by respective subsetsof at least one transmit/receive point (TRP) in the same cell.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, sending the first SRS sequenceas at least part of the first SRS comprises mapping the first SRSsequence to physical resources based on a network configurable number ofallowed SRS bandwidths.

In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the one or more processorsexecute the instructions to: determine the number of allowed SRSbandwidths based on the first UE-specific ID associated with the UE or aUE group-specific ID associated with a UE group to which the UE belongs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a New Radio (NR) network inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a NR cell in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of a NR cell in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of a NR cell in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates the flow of SRS configuration information in a NRnetwork in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates examples of allowed (right of the frequency axis) andnot allowed (left of the frequency axis) SRS physical resource mappingin LTE.

FIG. 7 illustrates examples of SRS resource pooling in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates SRSs being sent in a NR network in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates SRSs being sent in a NR network in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates SRS configuration information being exchanged withina NR cell in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates SRS configuration information being exchangedbetween NR cells in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a process of provisioning SRSs in a network inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process of generating SRSs at a UE in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates a process of provisioning SRSs in a network inaccordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates a process of generating SRSs at a UE in accordancewith another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates a process of provisioning SRSs in a network inaccordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates a process of provisioning SRSs in a network inaccordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates a process of generating SRSs at a UE in accordancewith another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram representation of a NRtransmit/receive point in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates a block diagram representation of a NR UE inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

For illustrative purposes, specific example embodiments will now beexplained in greater detail below in conjunction with the figures.

The embodiments set forth herein represent information sufficient topractice the claimed subject matter and illustrate ways of practicingsuch subject matter. Upon reading the following description in light ofthe accompanying figures, those of skill in the art will understand theconcepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize applicationsof these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should beunderstood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope ofthe disclosure and the accompanying claims.

Moreover, it will be appreciated that any module, component, or devicedisclosed herein that executes instructions may include or otherwisehave access to a non-transitory computer/processor readable storagemedium or media for storage of information, such as computer/processorreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or otherdata. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitorycomputer/processor readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,optical disks such as compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digitalvideo discs or digital versatile discs (i.e. DVDs), Blu-ray Disc™, orother optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology,random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology. Any such non-transitory computer/processor storagemedia may be part of a device or accessible or connectable thereto.Computer/processor readable/executable instructions to implement anapplication or module described herein may be stored or otherwise heldby such non-transitory computer/processor readable storage media.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a New Radio (NR) network inaccordance with the present disclosure. Contrary to a typical LTE cellserviced by one transmit/receive point with a unique cell ID, a NewRadio (NR) cell, in a NR system, may include many transmit/receivepoints (transmit/receive points) using the same NR cell ID, which NRcell may cover a much broader area. Generally, the system 100 enablesmultiple wireless users to transmit and receive data and other content.The system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods, such ascode division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access(TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA(OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). Although FIG. 1 illustratesone embodiment of an architecture for supporting NR cells, embodimentsof the present disclosure are not limited to this architecture. That isto say, other network architectures for supporting NR cells are alsopossible. For example, any network architecture where transmit/receivepoints in the network are controlled by one or more central access unitswith centralized signal processing capability can also work.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, NR cell communication system 100 includesuser equipment (UE) 110 a-110 c, transmit/receive points, includingtransmit/receive points 130 a and 130 b, central access units 170 a and170 b, a core network 132, a public switched telephone network (PSTN)140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Note, however, that thisis just an embodiment and the NR system could have more or lesstransmit/receive points and/or central access units.

The UEs 110 a-110 c are configured to operate and/or communicate in thesystem 100. For example, the UEs 110 a-110 c are configured to transmitand/or receive wireless signals. Each UE 110 a-110 c represents anysuitable end user device and which may also be referred to as user awireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobilesubscriber unit and may include a cellular telephone, personal digitalassistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop or tablet for example.

Transmit/receive points, including transmit/receive points 130 a 130 b,can include, for example, mobile-relay stations, base stations, picotransmitters, or femto transmitters. The transmit/receive points canalso be remote radio heads (RRHs) in some implementations. A RRHcontains radio frequency circuitry plusanalog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters and up/down converters.The RRHs are located between a base station and the UEs, and areconnected to a base station using optical fiber, a wireless channel orany other communication line. The RRHs receive and convert digitalsignals to analog, then amplifies the power and sends the radiofrequency signals. The base stations can include a base transceiverstation (BTS), a Node-B (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a HomeNodeB, a Home eNodeB, an access point (AP), or a wireless router.

In one arrangement, central access unit 170 a can control a first groupof transmit/receive points including transmit/receive point 130 a whilecentral access unit 170 b can control a second group of transmit/receivepoints including transmit/receive point 130 b. For example, a centralaccess unit could be a gNodeB. Note, while central access units 170 aand 170 b are shown separate from their respective transmit/receivepoints, the central access units could alternatively be co-located withone or more of their respective transmit/receive points and thetransmit/receive points could communicate with each other (e.g., agNodeB could be collocated with one or more transmit/receive points andcommunicate with other transmit/receive points through an X2 interface).If not collocated, a central access unit could communicate with othertransmit/receive points via an optical, wireless or other connection.Central access units 170 a and 170 b could also communicate directlywithout use of core network 132.

All or a subset of transmit/receive points associated with centralaccess units 170 a may be assigned a common NR cell ID to form a NRcell. Similarly, all or a subset of transmit/receive points associatedwith central access unit 170 b may be assigned a different common NRcell ID to form another NR cell. Alternatively, all or a subset oftransmit/receive points associated with central access units 170 a and170 b could be assigned a common NR cell ID, in which case the NR cellwould have two central access units associated therewith. Thetransmit/receive points associated with central access unit 170 a, 170b, and/or 170 a and 170 b together could also support multiple NR cellsby using different subsets of transmit/receive points.

FIG. 2 presents a diagram illustrating an NR cell in a NR system. A NRcluster 202 includes a number of coverage areas of transmit/receivepoints, such as coverage area 204. To create a NR cell, the system (viaone or more central access units) assigns a common cell ID to all thetransmit/receive points of the NR cluster that will form the NR cell.The system may create multiple NR cells within a NR cluster. Each NRcell has a unique NR cell ID that is common to and shared by alltransmit/receive points associated with the respective NR cell.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a NR cell in accordance with thepresent disclosure. Shown are transmit/receive points for facilitatingNR data channels and NR control channels for UE 206. The threetransmit/receive points 208, 210, and 212 are optimally situated tocommunicate the NR channels with UE 206. The transmit/receive pointsform a virtual transmit/receive point. The system can dynamicallycombine multiple physical transmitters and receivers to form a virtualtransmit/receive point. From the perspective of a UE, the virtualtransmit/receive points appear to be a single transmitter. In fact, a UEdoes not need to know with which transmit/receive point or set of pointsthe UE is communicating with. The transmit/receive points used on theuplink may also differ from those used on the downlink. The system maycreate many virtual transmit/receive points for a NR cell and coordinatetheir transmissions. The system can also dynamically change the physicaltransmit/receive points that make up the NR cell.

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of a NR cell in accordance withthe present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 3 presents a diagram of anembodiment of an NR cell that facilitates multiple NR channels. Thesystem can support multiple parallel NR channels within a single NRcell, each serving a different UE. The NR cell may also utilize multipledifferent physical transmit/receive points or combinations oftransmit/receive points to create the NR data channels. The actualphysical transmit/receive points of the NR data channels are alsoUE-specific and are transparent to each UE. As the UEs move to differentlocations, the system can dynamically assign different physicaltransmit/receive points to service the UEs. Once again, the NR cell IDtransmitted from the different physical transmit/receive pointsbelonging to the same NR cell remains the same. As illustrated in FIG.3, an embodiment of a NR cell 300 is shown supporting three NR channels,one for each UE. Three transmit/receive points 302, 304, 306 provide aNR data channel for UE 307, two transmit/receive points 302, 304 providea NR data channel for UE 309, and two transmit/receive points 308, 310provide a NR data channel for UE 311. Transmit/receive points 312, 314are silent and may be turned off to save energy. In one arrangement, acentral access unit can control the generation of the NR channels basedon load balancing and UE distribution within a NR cell.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of a NR cell in accordance withthe present disclosure. As shown therein, each of UEs 406, 408 has asubset of transmit/receive points surrounding the UE. Thetransmit/receive points transmit the UE-specific NR dedicated controlchannels 410, 412. Also shown is common control channel 402. NRdedicated control channel 410 is specific to UE 406, and NR dedicatedcontrol channel 412 is specific to UE 408. One or more transmissionschemes of the NR data channel and/or the NR dedicated control channel,including scrambling, pilot design, and/or pilot sequence and location,are created in accordance with a UE ID. Further, a NR cell ID can beapplied together with the UE ID to differentiate transmission of the NRdata channel and/or NR control channel from different NR cells. ParallelNR dedicated control channels can be provided in each NR cell. Thedemodulation of each NR dedicated control channel is performed inaccordance with a UE-specific reference signal (RS), the sequence andlocation of which are linked to the UE ID. To distinguish the NRdedicated control channels communicated from different NR cells, thesequence of UE-specific RS is associated with a sequence specific toeach NR cell. The system may apply transmit/receive point selectiontechniques and transmit power control techniques to minimize intra-NRcell interference and inter-NR cell interference. For a UE with a poorSignal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), the system can transmitthe NR dedicated control channel and/or NR data channel from multipletransmit/receive points to improve signal quality, including using MIMOprocessing. In addition, the system may apply Transmit Time Interval(TTI) bundling to a fixed or slow moving UE in order to further enhancethe capacity of the UE-specific virtual dedicated control channel.

Sounding reference signals (SRSs) employed in an NR system (NR SRSs) maybe used for at least one of the following tasks: channel stateinformation (CSI) acquisition, beam management, and UL-based radioresource management (RRM) measurements for both radio resource control(RRC) RRC_Connected Active and RRC_Connected Inactive states and alsoUL-based mobility management. The SRS for each UE is configured by thenetwork and the configuration is sent to the UE, for example in adownlink control channel (such as PDCCH). Based on this configuration,UE sends the configured SRS sequences in the configured time-frequencyresources. NR SRS configurations may be performed by the network of theNR system (as distinct from the UE), specifically via the central accessunits and transmit/receive points in the NR system.

FIG. 5 illustrates the flow of SRS configuration information in a NRnetwork in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 5, central access unit 502 sends SRS configurationinformation 504 to transmit/receive points 506 which are part of a NRcell. Transmit/receive points 506 then send SRS configurationinformation 508 to UE 510. The SRS configuration information 508 may bethe same as the SRS configuration information 504 received from centralaccess unit 502, may include information in addition to the SRSconfiguration information 504, may include less information than the SRSconfiguration 504, or may be modified as compared to the SRSconfiguration information 504.

The SRS configuration information 508 is used by UE 510 to generate aSRS 512. The SRS configuration information 504 and/or 508 is used bytransmit/receive points 506 to estimate a channel between the UE 510 andone or more of the transmit/receive points 506 using the SRS 512. Thechannel information 514 estimated from SRS 512 may be sent back toCentral Access Unit 502 for further use in operating the NR network.

Note, while three transmit/receive points 506 are shown communicatingwith UE 510, more or fewer transmit/receive points 506 may be used towirelessly communicate with the UE 510. NR cell ID and some UE-specificparameters may be used to configure a SRS for each UE by the NR network(e.g. by a central access unit). In one embodiment, some UE-specific SRSconfigurations may be performed by the UE 510; however, the NR networkcan overrule this particular configuration. Different SRS configurationsmay be supported and may be used to carry out different tasks. Thedifferent SRS configurations may include, for example, at least one ofthe following: different bandwidth (SRS may support UL bandwidths of upto at least 80 MHz); different frequency hopping patterns; differenttransmission combs; different base sequence properties such as basesequence root; different cyclic shifts; different timing, includingperiodic with different periodicities, aperiodic, or event-driven, andsemi-persistent; different CP (cyclic prefix) size and possible guardtime; and different numerology (SRS symbol duration and subcarrierspacing for example). Each UE may be assigned multiple SRSs withdifferent configurations at different times in one embodiment.

In some systems, SRSs used in the same NR Cell of a NR system areorthogonal to one another to avoid inter-SRS interference within the NRCell. Orthogonality can be in time, frequency, or code domains(different comb or cyclic shifts of the same base Zadoff-Chu “ZC”sequence). One problem when such orthogonality is employed is the numberof transmission combs or usable cyclically shifted versions of the sameZC sequence (code domain-orthogonal sequences) is limited. As a result,to maintain strict orthogonality among SRSs assigned to all UEs in NRCell, a large portion of available time and frequency resources may haveto be allocated to SRSs of different UEs, which results in a waste oftime and frequency resources.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, SRS sequences aredesigned to support a very large number of UEs per NR Cell, includingwhen SRS sequences are used by RRC_Inactive UEs for mobility purposes.Constant Amplitude Zero Auto Correlation (CAZAC) sequences such as ZCsequences can be used as base sequences for SRS. Base ZC sequences usedin SRS may be configured by the NR network as described below in moredetail.

ZC sequences have been used in LTE to generate SRS due to their constantpower profile in time and frequency, mutual orthogonality of cyclicallyshifted versions of the same ZC sequence, and low cross correlation oftwo ZC sequences of the same length. We propose to use ZC sequences alsoin generating NR SRS. In view of the above, in some embodiments of thepresent disclosure ZC sequences are used for NR SRS sequence design.

In LTE, ZC sequences used to generate LTE SRSs have the followingproperties:

Property 1: For each SRS length, the following number of ZC roots isavailable over the whole network:

30 roots for sequence lengths of less than 6 RBs

Property 2: For each SRS length, only one ZC-root is used to generateSRS sequence in each LTE Cell. This root is uniquely determined by an IDn_(ID) ^(RS) and may depend on the slot number (may be time varying:

n_(ID) ^(RS) equal to LTE Cell ID for SRS

Property 3: Assigned SRSs in a LTE Cell are orthogonal. Inter-SRSorthogonality is preserved in the time/frequency (TF) domain byassigning sequences in different time/frequencies resources (includingdifferent transmission combs) or in code domain by using differentcyclic shifts of the same base sequence

However, to facilitate possible NR operational requirements, at leastsome of the above properties may need to be modified in NR SRS design.Two possible SRS requirements in NR that the LTE SRS design does notmeet are as follows:

NR SRS capacity may need to be far more than that of LTE SRS as thenumber of UEs in a NR Cell may be far larger than that of a typical LTECell.

NR SRS needs to support a more flexible physical resource mapping (PRM).In particular, unlike LTE, allocation of partially overlapping SRSs onthe same TF resources in a NR Cell may be possible.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide mechanisms that are intendedto address the above two requirements.

Supporting Higher User Capacity

The above Property 2 of conventional ZC sequences used in LTE is basedon a set of equations in Section 5.5.1 of 3GPP, 36.211 that togetherdetermine the ZC root q_(lte) of SRS sequence. Property 2 and this setof equations can be represented in a mathematical form as

q _(lte)=ƒ(Cell_(ID) ,L,n _(s))

where Cell_(ID) is LTE Cell ID, L is the length of SRS sequence andq_(lte) is also a function of n_(s) only if values of some Boolean highlayer signals are properly set.

Property 2 and Eq. (1) indicate that the ZC root used to generateequal-length SRS sequences in the same time slot is cell-specific. Thismay not lend itself to a SRS design that meets the need for an increasedSRS capacity mentioned above, because only a limited number of SRSsequences of the same length can be generated from a single ZC root.This number is upper bounded by the number of allowed cyclic shifts.However, due to the fact that NR SRS may need to support many more UEs(or UE ports) per cell, more than one ZC root may be required togenerate SRSs of the same length on the same OFDM symbol. This can bedone if the ZC roots of NR SRS sequences are configured UE-specifically.

In view of the above, some embodiments of the present disclosure providea mechanism by which SRS sequence roots are configured UE-specifically,as discussed in further detail below.

Sequence ID has been proposed to configure SRS sequences and the ongoingstandards discussions related to NR have agreed that NR should supportconfigurable SRS sequence ID by UE specific configuration if SRSsequence ID is supported. The use of UE-specific or UE group-specificSRS sequence IDs is an effective approach to configure ZC root of SRSsequence for each UE and is also a step forward from LTE-A whereinn_(ID) ^(RS) is introduced to determine ZC root of SRS sequence but wasonly equal to LTE Cell ID in the LTE SRS design. In some embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the used ZC root is dependent on the SRSsequence length so that the number of available ZC roots increases withthe length of SRS sequences. This avoids the use of only a fixed set ofa limited number of ZC roots for all different SRS sequence lengths.Moreover, ZC root of SRS sequence can also depend on the SRS scheduledtime (OFDM symbol and/or time slot) for randomization purposes in someembodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, thisdependency may be enabled or disabled by the network through high layersignaling, e.g., L2/L3, RRC signaling. Therefore, in its most generalform, we have

q _(nr) =g(seq_ID,L,t)

where q_(nr) is ZC root of NR SRS sequence, seq_ID is a UE-specific orUE group-specific sequence ID, and t is the SRS sequence scheduled time.

In view of the above, in some embodiments of the present disclosureUE-specific SRS sequence IDs are supported and the ZC root of SRSsequence is at least a function of SRS sequence ID and SRS sequencelength and, in some embodiments, can also depend on the SRS scheduledtime.

In some embodiments, the UE-specific SRS sequence ID may also be used todetermine other SRS sequence configuration parameters such as sequencelength, scheduling time, and cyclic shifts. In such a case, L and t inEq. (2) may also depend on seqlDand possibly some higher layer signals.

In some embodiments, in order to UE-specifically configure SRS sequenceID, it is linked with a UE-specific ID that is already known to the UEso that a UE can determine its SRS sequence ID based on its alreadyknown UE-specific ID, e.g. UE Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier(C-RNTI). A potential advantage of such an approach is that it mayreduce the overhead of sending SRS sequence ID to the UE as the UE isaware of its own UE-specific ID and can determine its SRS sequence IDaccordingly.

SRS sequence ID can also be determined as a function of UE-specific ID(like C-RNTI). Alternatively, C-RNTI or function of it or a part of itcan be the default value of UE-specific SRS sequence ID unlessoverridden by higher layer signaling.

Due to the need to support more UE ports, in contrast to LTE, multipleZC roots may be used in the same cell to generate the same SRS sequencelength in some embodiments of the present disclosure. As such, the aboveProperty 1 of conventional ZC sequences used in LTE may have to bemodified to support more sequence roots in some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In particular, the network may require more than 30(or 60) roots to flexibly assign ZC roots to different groups of UEsover the whole network. Note that larger number of ZC roots is availableto generate SRS sequences of larger lengths for sounding largerbandwidths. This larger pool of available ZC roots can be utilized tomore flexibly assign ZC sequences to UEs.

In view of the above, in some embodiments of the present disclosure morethan 60 ZC roots are supported at least for each SRS sequence lengthlarger than a threshold length.

Supporting More Flexible Physical Resource Mapping (PRM)

Providing more PRM flexibility is an important requirement for NR SRS.To address this requirement, a different design approach from LTE hasbeen proposed in which SRS sequences are determined by PRM position aswell as SRS bandwidth. One adverse effect of such a design approach isthat it typically results in higher Cubic Metric (CM)/Peak-to-AveragePower Ratio (PAPR) values. Embodiments of the present disclosure thatprovide mechanisms to provide more PRM flexibility than that ofconventional LTE without resorting to a PRM position dependent designapproach are discussed below.

In LTE, higher layer cell-specific parameter srs-BandwidthConfig,C_(SRS)∈{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7} and UE-specific parameter srs-BandwidthB_(SRS)∈{0,1,2,3} determine the allowed SRS bandwidths in a Cell. Foreach C_(SRS), only four different SRS bandwidths are allowed each ofwhich corresponding to a B_(SRS)∈{0,1,2,3}. Moreover,BW(SRS_(i))=k·BW(SRS_(i+1)) where BW(SRS_(i)) is the bandwidth of SRScorresponding B_(SRS)=i and k∈{1,2,3,4,5,6}. Finally, PRM of the allowedfour SRS bandwidths follows a specific nested structure in which PRM ofk SRS_(i+1) should be fully covered by PRM of SRS_(i).

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating examples of allowed (right of thefrequency axis) and not allowed (left of the frequency axis) SRSphysical resource mapping in LTE for 60<N_(RB) ^(UL)≤80 and C_(SRS)=0.

The PRMs at the right hand side of the frequency axis in FIG. 6 show theallowed PRMs in LTE for the case of 60<N_(RB) ^(UL)≤80 and C_(SRS)=0. Inturn, PRMs at the left hand side of FIG. 6 give an example of PRMs thatare not allowed in LTE wherein the PRM of 12 PRB SRSs do not follow thenested PRM structure enforced in LTE.

To provide more PRM flexibility compared to LTE, some embodiments of thepresent disclosure include the following modifications:

The limited allowed SRS bandwidths per cell that are enforced bycell-specific C_(SRS) and UE-specific B_(SRS) can be relaxed. In someembodiments, the number of allowed SRS bandwidths is networkconfigurable. One approach to provide more flexibility in allowed SRSbandwidths per cell is to substitute cell-specific C_(SRS) with aUE-group specific ID and/or increases the number of allowed values forB_(SRS).

Orthognality among SRSs in time/frequency or code domains can still bemaintained without the use of nested PRM structure in LTE. As such, thenested PRM structure in LTE can be relaxed in some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

SRS Resource Pooling

Another approach to provide more PRM flexibility is to use SRS resourcepooling to facilitate code domain orthogonality between two partiallyoverlapped SRSs that are scheduled on the same time resources. FIG. 7show two examples (examples A and B) of such SRS resource pooling.

SRS1 and SRS2 in example A of FIG. 7 are scheduled on the same timeresources and assumed to have the same transmission comb. SRS1 iscomprised of two concatenated ZC sequences that cover 12 and 24 PRBswhile SRS2 is comprised of two ZC sequences that cover 4 and 12 PRBs.The overlapped part of SRS1 and SRS2 is the 12 PRB section in example A.To maintain code-domain orthogonality between SRS1 and SRS2 the ZCsequences corresponding to the overlapped 12 PRB section can be derivedfrom the same ZC root with different cyclic shifts.

In example B of FIG. 7, the overlapped part of SRS1 and SRS2 includestwo sets of ZC sequences covering 4 PRBs and 8 PRBs wherein theequal-size ZC-sequence building blocks in the overlapped part arederived from the same ZC roots with different cyclic shifts to preserveorthogonality.

The idea of concatenating short ZC-sequences as building blocks of SRSsequences has been previously proposed as an approach to PRM positiondependent SRS design. In particular, the previous proposal also proposesthat overlapping parts of two SRSs should be generated from the sameZC-root. However, the SRS resource pooling approach in accordance withthe present disclosure and the PRM position dependent designs previouslyproposed differ in at least the following aspects:

The ZC building blocks of resource pooled SRS sequences of the presentdisclosure are not PRM position dependent. In particular, SRS1 and SRS2can be scheduled on any part of the UL system bandwidth without anychange in their building blocks. In embodiments of the presentdisclosure the network configures these ZC building blocks with the viewthat the overlapped part of two resource pooled SRS sequences SRS1 andSRS2 include the same set of one or a concatenation of multiple ZCsequence building blocks except that the used cyclic shifts in thebuilding blocks of the overlapped part of SRS1 and SRS2 are different(e.g., see FIG. 7). This guarantees orthogonality between SRS1 and SRS2.

Unlike in PRM position dependent SRS designs wherein SRS sequences aretypically derived from concatenating a fixed size ZC-sequence buildingblocks, the overlapping part of resource pooled SRS sequences inaccordance with the present disclosure is network configured and caninclude one larger or a concatenation of several smaller ZC-sequences.

Unlike in PRM position dependent SRS designs wherein all SRSs comprise aconcatenation of smaller uniform size ZC building blocks, resourcepooled SRSs in accordance with the present disclosure may only be usedif it is necessary to provide code-domain orthogonality between twopartially overlapped SRSs.

In view of the above, it is noted that some embodiments of the presentdisclosure provide resource pooled SRS sequences that include more thanone ZC building block. Furthermore, these building blocks may not beresource allocation position dependent and/or may have different sizes.

The following provides an illustrative example of how resource pooledSRS sequences may be generated in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. If we let SRS1 and SRS2 be two partially overlappedresource pooled SRS sequences and ZC1,1, ZC1,2, . . . , ZC1,K and ZC2,1,ZC2,2, . . . , ZC2,L be the sets of ZC building blocks of SRS1 and SRS2respectively such that ZCi,m−1 is immediately located on the PRBs on topof ZCi,m for i=1,2 and m∈1, 2, . . . , K. Then,

K=L

ZC1,m and ZC2,m have the same root for m∈1, 2, . . . , K.

ZC1,m and ZC2,m have different cyclic shifts for m∈1, 2, . . . , K.

Non-Orthogonal SRS Assignment

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the base sequence of agiven SRS can depend on the NR Cell ID that is shared among multipletransmit/receive points in the NR cell. By way of comparison, the baseZC sequence in a conventional LTE SRS is determined based on the uniqueID of its serving cell. As previously noted the serving transmit/receivepoint (which can be a set or subset of one or more transmit/receivepoints) is transparent to the UE in a NR system, and multipletransmit/receive points in an NR cell share the same NR Cell ID (RRClevel mobility). In one embodiment, a base ZC sequence may be UE orUE-group specific.

Given that maintaining strict orthogonality among all SRSs used in a NRCell may result in a waste of time and frequency resources and may notbe necessary, according to one embodiment a NR system is able toconfigure SRSs, using correlated sequences, for use by different UEs inthe same NR cell, using the same or at least partially overlappingresources. In some implementations, the correlated sequences may bechosen so as to have a level of correlation below a threshold level ofcorrelation. Alternatively, the chosen sequences may have a lowercorrelation compared to other available sequences.

The transmit/receive points 506 that receive the SRS Configurationinformation 504 need not be the same set as the transmit/receive points506 that receive the SRS 512 from the UE 510. However, the SRSconfiguration information 504 must be received by a transmit/receivepoint (one of 506) for use in channel estimation.

In an optional operation/system, information about non-orthogonal SRSsthat share same time and frequency resources are included in the SRSconfiguration information 504. Information regarding the non-orthogonalSRSs can be used by the transmit/receive points 506 for channelestimation. In prior systems, SRS signals of non-subject UEs (subject UEis the UE for which channel estimation is being performed) wereconsidered part of system noise, even though these non-subject SRSsignals were not actually system noise. With the optional embodiment,non-orthogonal SRS signals from non-subject UEs (that are known to atransmit/receive point performing channel estimation) are identified inthe SRS configuration information 504 and may be considered whenestimating a channel between a transmit/receive point 506 and thesubject UE 510.

FIG. 8 illustrates SRSs being sent in a NR network in accordance with anembodiment the present disclosure. In FIG. 8, UE1 602 and UE2 604 areoperating within a common NR cell. SRS 606 is transmitted by UE1 602 ontime and frequency resources 614 indicated, and SRS 610 is transmittedby UE2 604 on the same time and frequency resources 614, while thesequence used for SRS 610 is not orthogonal to the sequence used for SRS606 but rather correlated. Also, shown in FIG. 8 is UE 602 transmittinganother SRS 608 having a different sequence length from SRS 606 in alater symbol using time and frequency resource 616 as indicated.

As noted above, NR SRSs generated by ZC-sequences from two or moredifferent roots may be used in the same, or partially overlapping, timeand frequency resources in an NR Cell. According to one embodiment ofoperation orthogonal ZC-sequences (from the same root with differentcyclic shifts and/or comb or from two different roots using twodifferent combs) are assigned to UEs that would inflict moreinterference to one another, whereas low correlated ZC-sequences(sequences from two different roots having a partial correlation below agiven threshold for example) can be assigned to UEs that inflict less orno interference to one another in comparison, in both cases using atleast partially overlapping time and frequency resources in an NR cell.

FIG. 9 illustrates SRSs being sent in a NR network in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. With the embodiment of FIG. 9, UE1602, UE2 604, UE3 702, and UE4 704 are operating within a common NRcell. In addition to the SRS 606 and SRS 608 of FIG. 8, which are basedon correlated sequences, UE3 702 and UE4 704 transmit SRS 706 and SRS708 on the same time and frequency resources 710, which are differentfrom time and frequency resources 614 used for the SRSs that are basedon orthogonal sequences. As will be appreciated by one of skill in theart, SRS 706 and SRS 708 need not be in the same symbol period as SRS606 and SRS 608 and could be in a different symbol period.

As noted above, NR SRSs of UEs may be configured by the network. Unlikewith LTE, this SRS configuration does not depend on individual LTE CellIDs, but rather on a common NR Cell ID used by a set of transmit/receivepoints. According to one embodiment, more than 30 (or 60) ZC roots maybe available over the whole network for each NR SRS sequence length. Bycomparison, in LTE currently, only 30 roots are available for the SRSsequences of length of less than 72 and, depending on the configuration,30 or 60 roots are available for sequences of length larger than 72.Also by way of comparison to LTE, more than one ZC root for each NR SRSsequence length may be used at each NR Cell at any given slot in anembodiment. It is explicitly understood that these available roots mayvary with time. According to one embodiment, the sequence hopping isnetwork configurable and may not necessarily follow the current LTEapproach.

As discussed above, in some embodiments an SRS resource that isconfigured for a UE may include multiple SRS sequences (e.g., two ormore concatenated ZC sequences), each of which may be mapped to onedistinct OFDM symbol in a slot. Furthermore, in some embodiments, eachSRS sequence may be a function of a different sequence root. As such, insome embodiments, each SRS resource may include multiple SRS sequences(that may have different sequence roots) that are respectively mapped tomultiple OFDM symbols in a slot. It is noted that in such embodimentsthe roots used to generate SRS sequences for different OFDM symbols ofthe SRS resource may be different only when SRS sequence hopping isenabled.

FIG. 10 illustrates SRS configuration information being exchanged withina NR cell in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 10, UE1 SRS configuration information 802 about UE1 804associated with one set of one or more transmit/receive points 810 isshared with another set of one or more transmit/receive points 812associated with UE2 808 to aid in estimating a channel between the UE2808 and one or more of the transmit/receive points 812. Similarly, UE2SRS configuration information 806 about UE2 808 may be shared withtransmit/receive points 810 to aid in estimating a channel between UE1804 and one of the transmit/receive points 810 based upon UE1 SRS 816.

Though not shown in FIG. 10, transmit/receive points 81 o and 812 usethe SRS configuration information 802 and 806 for SRS 816 and SRS 806,respectively, to estimate channels for UE1 804 and UE2 808, based on SRS816 and SRS 806, respectively. The SRS configuration information 802 and806 may be obtained in the manner shown in FIG. 5, for example.

In prior systems, the SRSs of other UEs were considered noise whenestimating a channel for a subject UE. However, with the NR network ofFIG. 10, SRS configuration information known of other interfering UEsthat share at least a portion of time and frequency resources with asubject UE may be used to improve one or more channel estimates for thesubject UE. For example, in processing the UE1 SRS 816 it receives forestimation, the transmit/receive point 810, in a channel estimationprocess for a channel between UE1 804 and the transmit/receive point810, attempts to remove the interfering affect that UE2 SRS 822 has onthe received signal. Likewise, transmit receive point 812, in a channelestimation process for a channel between UE2 808 and thetransmit/receive point 812, attempts to remove the interfering affectthat UE1 SRS 816 has on the received signal. While one interfering UE isshown to inflict interference on the subject UE, it is expresslycontemplated that any number of interfering UEs may be provided in theNR network if applied.

The transmit/receive points 810 and 812 need not be entirely distinctfor each NR cell and may partially overlap. The UE1 SRS configurationinformation 802 and the UE2 SRS configuration information 806 may beshared either directly between the transmit/receive points 810 and 812or shared via the central access unit 818 as shown in FIG. 10. Whenshared via the central access unit 818, the UE2 SRS configurationinformation 814 may be the same or differ from the UE2 SRS configurationinformation 806 and the UE1 SRS configuration information 820 may be thesame or differ from UE1 SRS configuration information 802.

According to another optional embodiment, Neighboring NR Cells, canshare information (semi-statistically or dynamically) about theirassigned NR SRSs to reduce inter SRS interference effect at cell-edges.For example, interference mitigation/avoidance/reduction schemes can beused to reduce inter-NR cell inter-SRS interference.

FIG. 11 illustrates SRS configuration information being exchangedbetween NR cells in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, SRS configuration information 914associated with UE1 906 and UE2 908 in one NR cell 902 is shared with aneighboring NR cell 904 either via one or more central access units 920and 922, or directly between one or more transmit/receive points 924,926, 928 and 930. The SRS configuration information 914 regarding UE1906 and UE2 908 may be used to assist in the estimation of channels forUE3 910 and UE4 912 in a channel estimation process. Similarly, SRSconfiguration information 916 associated with UE3 910 and UE4 912 in NRcell 904 is shared with a neighboring NR cell 902 either via one or morecentral access units 920 and 922, or directly between one or moretransmit/receive points 924, 926, 928 and 930. The SRS configurationinformation 916 regarding UE3 910 and UE4 912 may be used to assist inthe estimation of channels for UE1 906 and UE2 908 in a channelestimation process. While FIG. 11 shows two central access units 920 and922, each set of transmit/receive points shown therein could beconnected to the same central access unit 920 or 922.

For example, the SRS signals of other interfering UEs, e.g., UE3 910and/or UE4 912, that share time and frequency resources with a subjectUE, e.g. UE 2 908, may inflict interference on the UE2 SRS that UE2 908transmits and that is received by transmit/receive point 926. Whenestimating the channel of the subject UE2 908 based upon the receivedUE2 SRS signal, transmit/receive point 924, with knowledge of UE3 SRSand UE4 SRS, may remove or mitigate the interfering effect that UE3 SRSand/or UE4 SRS contribute in the received SRS signal, thereby improvingone or more channel estimations of the subject UE2 908.

Further, the SRS signals of other interfering UEs, e.g., UE1 906 and/orUE2 908, that share time and frequency resources with a subject UE, e.g.UE3 910, may inflict interference on the UE3 SRS that UE3 910 transmitsand that is received by transmit/receive point 928. When estimating thechannel of the subject UE3 910 based upon the received UE3 SRS signal,transmit/receive point 928, with knowledge of UE1 SRS and UE2 SRSconfiguration information, may remove or mitigate the interfering effectthat UE1 SRS and/or UE2 SRS contribute in the received SRS signal,thereby improving one or more channel estimations of the subject UE3910. It is also expressly understood that any other SRS configurationinformation from any other interfering UEs that is within the same NRcell as the subject UE3 910 may also be used to assist in estimating thechannel of UE3 910. While one or two interfering UEs are shown toinflict interference on the subject UE, it is expressly contemplatedthat any number of interfering UEs may operate in the NR network thatmay cause interference.

In another optional embodiment, NR SRS sequences with different lengthscan be used in a NR cell in different symbols. The roots associated witheach NR SRS length may be configured by network and need not follow theLTE approach (note again that only one ZC root for each LTE SRS sequencelength may be used at each LTE Cell at a given slot.) Inter and intra-NRCell inter-SRS interference considerations may be taken into account toselect the roots for each NR SRS length.

As noted above with respect to FIG. 10, optional intra-NR cell NR SRSinterference treatment may be employed with the NR cells of FIG. 11 aswell. Because SRSs are configured by the NR network, resulting inter-SRSinterference in ah NR cell may be addressed in a number of ways. Usingnetwork planning, UE SRSs within NR cells may be planned so that thetotal inter-SRS interference on each NR SRS meets a threshold level.Such planning is possible by assigning SRSs in the same time andfrequency resources by an NR Cell via one or multiple cooperating gNbs.Another embodiment of network planning involves correlated NR SRSs thatare assigned in the same time and frequency resource being used in twodifferent parts of the NR Cell. For instance, two low-correlated SRSs inthe same time and frequency resources are allocated to two UEs that donot share the same serving transmit/receive point set in NR Cell. In yetanother embodiment, the network uses NR SRS power control over an NRCell to manage inter-SRS interference at the network side, for exampleas part of the SRS configuration information.

Since different UEs' SRSs within an NR Cell are configured by the NRCell, interfering SRS sequences are known at the network side and theireffect can be mitigated using a proper channel estimation design thatcan take into account the interfering SRS sequence. Network cooperatedestimation techniques may include cooperative UL channel estimation bymultiple transmit/receive points in NR Cell to improve inter-SRSinterference mitigation.

Optional inter-NR Cell NR SRS interference treatment may also be usedwith the embodiments above. Active or passive techniques, or acombination of both, can be used for compensating for Inter-NR Cell SRSinterference. Active techniques may include neighboring NR Cells sharinginformation about the NR SRSs that are used. Such information mayfurther include NR SRS sequences and/or transmission power that is usedwithin the NR cell. Information may also be used for interferencemitigation/cancellation techniques in the neighboring NR Cells. Forinstance, interfering SRS configuration information may be taken intoaccount in a channel estimation algorithm/filter to mitigate/cancel theinterference and scheduling two NR Cell-edge UEs in neighboring NR Cellswith high mutual interference in the same time/frequency resources isavoided. Passive techniques can include assigning to NR cell-edge UEs NRSRS's having low correlations with the NR SRS used at the neighboring NRCells. This can be done, for instance, using low cross-correlated ZCroots at neighboring NR Cells.

If multiple roots are used in an NR Cell in overlapping time andfrequency resources, the number of available NR SRS resources aretypically much more than the required number of NR SRS resources in anNR Cell. However, the number of available NR SRS resources in a NR Cellcan be further increased by increasing NR SRS time-frequency resourcesallocation or increasing the number of allowed cyclic shifts ofZC-sequences from the same root. More than 8 cyclic shifts perZC-sequence may be a viable choice in dense NR environment wherein themaximum channel dispersion length between UE and its servingtransmit/receive point set is typically small.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 950 in a TRPfor assigning sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork according to example embodiments described herein.

In block 952, the TRP sends first configuration information pertainingto a first sequence ID to be used by a first UE to generate a firstplurality of SRS sequences to be sent by the first UE as at least partof a first SRS, each SRS sequence of the first plurality of SRSsequences being a function of a respective SRS sequence root that is afunction of the first sequence ID. Optionally, in block 954, the TRPsends second configuration information pertaining to a second sequenceID to be used by a second UE to generate a second plurality of SRSsequences to be sent by the second UE as at least part of a second SRS,each SRS sequence of the second plurality of SRS sequences being afunction of a respective SRS sequence root that is a function of thesecond sequence ID. Optionally, in block 956, the TRP receives an SRSfrom one or more of the UEs.

The example operations 950 are illustrative of an example embodiment.Various ways to perform the illustrated operations, as well as examplesof other operations that may be performed, are described herein. Furthervariations may be or become apparent.

For example, in some embodiments, the first configuration informationmay include information to selectively enable or disable dependence ofthe SRS sequence roots on an SRS sequence scheduling time.

In some embodiments, the SRS sequence scheduling time has an OFDM symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments, the first plurality of SRS sequences are to be sentby the first UE in respective OFDM symbol intervals within a time slot.

In some embodiments, the first sequence ID overrides a default sequenceID.

In some embodiments, the default sequence ID for the first UE is afunction of a UE-specific ID associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments, the first sequence IDs is a function of aUE-specific ID associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments, the UE-specific ID associated with the first UE isa C-RNTI associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments, the first sequence ID is a function of a UEgroup-specific sequence ID that is assigned to a UE group to which thefirst UE belongs.

In some embodiments, the first plurality of SRS sequences are to be sentby the first UE as at least part of the first SRS using a first time andfrequency resource, the second plurality of SRS sequences are to be sentby the second UE as at least part of the second SRS using a second timeand frequency resource, and the first time and frequency resource atleast partially overlaps with the second time and frequency resource.

In some embodiments, the operations 950 may further include sendingfirst physical resource mapping configuration information pertaining toa first allowed number of SRS bandwidths to be used by the first UE forphysical resource mapping of the first SRS, and sending second physicalresource mapping configuration information pertaining to a secondallowed number of SRS bandwidths to be used by the second UE forphysical resource mapping of the second SRS.

In some embodiments, the operations 950 may further include sendingthird configuration information pertaining to a third sequence ID to beused by the first UE to generate a third plurality of SRS sequences tobe sent by the first UE as at least part of the first SRS, each SRSsequence of the third plurality of SRS sequences being a function of arespective SRS sequence root that is a function of the third sequenceID.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 960 in a UE forgenerating sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork according to example embodiments described herein.

In block 962, the UE receives configuration information pertaining to afirst sequence ID. In block 964, the UE determines a first plurality ofSRS sequence roots as a function of the first sequence ID. In block 966,the UE generates a first plurality of SRS sequences based in part on thefirst plurality of SRS sequence roots. In block 968, the UE sends thefirst plurality of SRS sequences as at least part of a first SRS.

The example operations 960 are illustrative of an example embodiment.Various ways to perform the illustrated operations, as well as examplesof other operations that may be performed, are described herein. Furthervariations may be or become apparent.

For example, in some embodiments of the third aspect, the firstconfiguration information includes information to selectively enable ordisable dependence of the SRS sequence roots on an SRS sequencescheduling time.

In some embodiments, the SRS sequence scheduling time has an OFDM symboltime granularity.

In some embodiments, sending the first plurality of SRS sequences as atleast part of a first SRS includes sending the first plurality of SRSsequences in respective OFDM symbol intervals within a time slot.

In some embodiments, the first sequence ID overrides a default sequenceID.

In some embodiments, the default sequence ID for the UE is a function ofa UE-specific ID associated with the UE.

In some embodiments, the first sequence ID is a function of aUE-specific ID associated with the UE.

In some embodiments, the UE-specific ID associated with the UE is aC-RNTI associated with the UE.

In some embodiments, the first sequence ID is a function of a UEgroup-specific sequence ID that is assigned to a UE group to which theUE belongs.

In some embodiments, the first SRS is to be sent by the UE using a firsttime and frequency resource that at least partially overlaps with asecond time and frequency resource used by a second UE to send a secondSRS, wherein the UEs are served by respective subsets of at least onetransmit/receive point in the same cell.

In some embodiments, sending the first plurality of SRS sequences as atleast part of the first SRS includes mapping the first plurality of SRSsequences to physical resources based on a network configurable numberof allowed SRS bandwidths.

In some embodiments, the operations 960 further include determining, atthe UE, the number of allowed SRS bandwidths based on a UE-specific IDassociated with the UE or a UE group-specific ID associated with a UEgroup to which the UE belongs.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 970 in a TRPfor assigning sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork according to other example embodiments described herein.

In block 972, the TRP sends first configuration information pertainingto a first SRS sequence to be sent by a first UE, the first SRS sequencebeing a function of the first configuration information and a first SRSsequence root that is a function of a first UE-specific sequence ID thatis a function of a first UE-specific ID associated with the first UE.Optionally, in block 974, the TRP sends second configuration informationpertaining to a second SRS sequence to be sent by a second UE, thesecond SRS sequence being a function of the second configurationinformation and a second SRS sequence root that is a function of asecond UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of a secondUE-specific ID associated with the second UE. Optionally, in block 976,the TRP receives an SRS from one or more of the UEs.

The example operations 970 are illustrative of an example embodiment.Various ways to perform the illustrated operations, as well as examplesof other operations that may be performed, are described herein. Furthervariations may be or become apparent.

For example, in some embodiments, the first UE-specific ID associatedwith the first UE is a C-RNTI associated with the first UE.

In some embodiments, the first configuration information comprises atleast one of: SRS sequence scheduled timing information, SRS sequencelength information, physical resource mapping information, transmissioncomb information, cyclic shift information, and frequency hoppinginformation.

In some embodiments, the first configuration information furthercomprises information to selectively enable or disable dependence of thefirst SRS sequence root on the SRS sequence scheduled timinginformation.

In some embodiments, the SRS sequence scheduled timing information hasan orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol timegranularity.

In some embodiments, the first SRS sequence is to be sent by the firstUE using a first time and frequency resource, the second SRS sequence isto be sent by the second UE using a second time and frequency resource,and the first time and frequency resource at least partially overlapswith the second time and frequency resource.

In some embodiments, the first and second SRS sequence roots aredifferent; and the first and second SRS sequences are mapped tonon-overlapping time and frequency resource elements.

In some embodiments, the operations 970 further include the TRP sendingthird configuration information pertaining to a third SRS sequence to besent by the first UE as part of a first SRS that also includes the firstSRS sequence, the third SRS sequence being a function of the thirdconfiguration information and a third SRS sequence root that is afunction of a third UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of thefirst UE-specific ID associated with the first UE. The TRP may also sendfourth configuration information pertaining to a fourth SRS sequence tobe sent by the second UE as part of a second SRS that also includes thesecond SRS sequence, the fourth SRS sequence being a function of thefourth configuration information and a fourth SRS sequence root that isa function of a fourth UE-specific sequence ID that is a function of thesecond UE-specific ID associated with the second UE.

In some embodiments, the third and fourth SRS sequences are mapped tofully overlapping time and frequency resource elements; and the thirdand fourth SRS sequences are orthogonal.

In some embodiments, the third and fourth SRS sequence roots are thesame; and the fourth SRS sequence is a cyclic shift of the third SRSsequence.

In some embodiments, the operations 970 further include the TRPreceiving, from the first UE, the first SRS that includes at least thefirst SRS sequence and the third SRS sequence.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 980 in a UE forgenerating sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork according to other example embodiments described herein.

In block 982, the UE receives first configuration information pertainingto a first SRS sequence. In block 984, the UE determines a first SRSsequence root as a function of a first UE-specific sequence ID that is afunction of a first UE-specific ID associated with the UE. In block 986,the UE generates the first SRS sequence based at least in part on thefirst configuration information and the first SRS sequence root. Inblock 988, the UE sends the first SRS sequence as at least part of afirst SRS.

The example operations 980 are illustrative of an example embodiment.Various ways to perform the illustrated operations, as well as examplesof other operations that may be performed, are described herein. Furthervariations may be or become apparent.

For example, in some embodiments, the first UE-specific ID associatedwith the UE is a C-RNTI associated with the UE.

In some embodiments, the first configuration information comprises atleast one of: SRS sequence scheduled timing information, SRS sequencelength information, physical resource mapping information, transmissioncomb information, cyclic shift information, and frequency hoppinginformation.

In some embodiments, the SRS sequence scheduled timing has an orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol time granularity.

In some embodiments, the first configuration information furthercomprises information to selectively enable or disable dependence of thefirst SRS sequence root on the SRS sequence scheduled timinginformation, and the method further comprises: enabling or disabling thedependence of the first SRS sequence root on the SRS sequence schedulingtime in accordance with the first configuration information.

In some embodiments, determining the first SRS sequence root in block984 comprises determining a plurality of SRS sequence roots, inclusiveof the first SRS sequence root, that are each a function of the firstUE-specific sequence ID. In such embodiments, generating the first SRSsequence in block 986 may include generating a plurality of first SRSsequences, inclusive of the first SRS sequence, based at least in parton the plurality of first SRS sequence roots, and sending the first SRSsequence as at least part of the first SRS in block 988 may includesending the plurality of first SRS sequences as at least part of thefirst SRS.

In some embodiments, each first SRS sequence root of the plurality offirst SRS sequence roots is a function of a respective OFDM symbol time.

In some embodiments, the operations 980 further include the UEdetermining a third SRS sequence root as a function of a thirdUE-specific sequence ID that is a function of the first UE-specific IDassociated with the UE; generating, at the UE, a third SRS sequencebased at least in part on the third SRS sequence root; and sending, fromthe UE, the third SRS sequence as part of the first SRS.

In some embodiments, the first SRS is sent by the UE using a first timeand frequency resource that at least partially overlaps with a secondtime and frequency resource used by a second UE to send a second SRS,wherein the UEs are served by respective subsets of at least onetransmit/receive point (TRP) in the same cell.

In some embodiments, sending the first SRS sequence as at least part ofthe first SRS comprises mapping the first SRS sequence to physicalresources based on a network configurable number of allowed SRSbandwidths.

In some embodiments, the operations 980 further include the UEdetermining the number of allowed SRS bandwidths based on the firstUE-specific ID associated with the UE or a UE group-specific IDassociated with a UE group to which the UE belongs.

FIG. 16 illustrates a process of provisioning and receiving SRSs in a NRnetwork in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Theprocess/method 1000 is performed by the various components of the NRnetwork previously described herein with reference to FIGS. 1-10. Themethod 1000 commences with receiving respective SRS configuration infoat respective sets of one or more transmit/receive points of a NR cell(Step 1002). This information could be received from a central accesspoint for example, which can include internally receiving in atransmit/receive point from a collocated central access unit, or viaanother transmit/receive point. Operation 1000 continues with sendingthe respective SRS configuration information from the respective sets ofone or more transmit/receive points, for receipt by respective users,where the respective SRS configuration information of the respectivesets pertains to at least partially overlapping time and frequencyresources and SRS sequences that correlate, but below a specifiedthreshold level of correlation (Step 1004). Optionally, the method 1000continues with receiving at the respective sets of one or moretransmit/receive points, respective SRS configuration information fromanother set of one or more transmit/receive points of the NR cell oranother NR cell, either directly or via a central access unit (Step1006) and estimating a respective channel based on the respective SRS,the respective SRS configuration information and the SRS configurationinformation from the another set of one or more transmit/receive pointsof the NR cell (Step 1008).

Further, the method 1000 optionally includes sending other respectiveSRS configuration information from other respective sets of one or moretransmit/receive points of the NR cell, for receipt by other respectiveusers, where the other respective SRS configuration information of theother respective sets pertains to at least partially overlapping timeand frequency resources and SRS sequences that are orthogonal (Step1010). Moreover, the method 1000 may optionally include sending arespective power control commands associated with the respective SRS(Step 1012).

While a particular order of steps is illustrated in FIG. 16, a methodaccording to the present disclosure may include a greater or lessernumber of steps than those illustrated in FIG. 16. Moreover, theillustrated steps of FIG. 16 may be performed in differing orders thanillustrated. Further, operations according to the present disclosure mayrepeat one or more of the illustrated steps, within or outside of theorder illustrated.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 1020 in a TRPfor assigning sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork according to example embodiments described herein.

In block 1022, the TRP sends first configuration information pertainingto a first sequence ID to be used by a first UE to generate a first SRSsequence, the first SRS sequence being a function of a first SRSsequence root that is a function of at least the first sequence ID and alength of the first SRS sequence. In block 1004, the TRP sends secondconfiguration information pertaining to a second sequence ID to be usedby a second UE to generate a second SRS sequence, the second SRSsequence being a function of a second SRS sequence root that is afunction of at least the second sequence ID and a length of the secondSRS sequence. The first and second configuration information compriseinformation to selectively enable or disable the dependence of the firstand second SRS sequence roots on an SRS sequence scheduling time.

Variations of the example operations 1020 could include any or all ofthe following:

the lengths of the first and second SRS sequences are a function of thefirst and second sequence IDs, respectively,

at least one of the first and second sequence IDs overrides a defaultsequence ID;

the default sequence ID for each of the first and second UEs is afunction of a UE-specific ID associated with the respective UE

the lengths of the first and second SRS sequences are equal;

the lengths of the first and second SRS sequences are different;

the first sequence ID and the second sequence ID are the same;

the first sequence ID and the second sequence ID are different;

the first and second sequence IDs are UE-specific sequence IDs assignedto the first and second UEs, respectively;

the first and second sequence IDs are UE group-specific sequence IDsthat are respectively assigned to first and second UE groups to whichthe first and second UE's respectively belong;

a first SRS is to be sent by the first UE using a first time andfrequency resource, a second SRS is to be sent by the second UE using asecond time and frequency resource, and the first time and frequencyresource at least partially overlaps with the second time and frequencyresource;

further comprising: sending, from the TRP, third configurationinformation pertaining to a third sequence ID to be used by the first UEto generate a third SRS sequence, the third SRS sequence being afunction of a third SRS sequence root that is a function of at least thethird sequence ID and a length of the third SRS sequence; sending, fromthe TRP, fourth configuration information pertaining to a fourthsequence ID to be used by the second UE to generate a fourth SRSsequence, the fourth SRS sequence being a function of a fourth SRSsequence root that is a function of at least the fourth sequence ID anda length of the fourth SRS sequence;

the third SRS sequence in the first SRS fully overlaps time andfrequency resource elements with the fourth SRS sequence in the secondSRS; and the third and fourth SRS sequences are orthogonal;

the third and fourth SRS sequence roots are the same; and the fourth SRSsequence is a cyclic shift of the third SRS sequence;

the first and second SRS sequence roots are different; and the first SRSsequence in the first SRS is non-overlapping with the second SRSsequence in the second SRS;

further comprising: sending, by the TRP, first physical resource mappingconfiguration information pertaining to a first allowed number of SRSbandwidths to be used by the first UE for physical resource mapping ofthe first SRS; and sending, by the TRP, second physical resource mappingconfiguration information pertaining to a second allowed number of SRSbandwidths to be used by the second UE for physical resource mapping ofthe second SRS;

the SRS sequences are Zadoff-Chu sequences.

The example operations 1020 are illustrative of an example embodiment.Various ways to perform the illustrated operations, as well as examplesof other operations that may be performed, are described herein. Furthervariations may be or become apparent.

FIG. 18 illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 1050 in a UEfor generating sounding reference signals in a wireless communicationnetwork according to example embodiments described herein.

In block 1052, the TRP determines a first SRS sequence root as afunction of at least a first sequence ID and a first SRS sequencelength. In block 1054, the TRP generates a first SRS sequence based atleast in part on the first SRS sequence root. In block 1056, the TRPsends the first SRS sequence as at least part of a first SRS.

Variations of the example operations 1050 could include any or all ofthe following:

further comprising, determining, at the UE, the first SRS sequencelength based at least in part on the first sequence ID;

-   -   determining the first SRS sequence root comprises determining        the first SRS sequence root as a function of at least the first        sequence ID, the first SRS sequence length and an SRS sequence        scheduling time;

further comprising enabling or disabling the dependence of the first SRSsequence root on the SRS sequence scheduling time responsive toconfiguration information received from the communication network;

further comprising receiving the first sequence ID from thecommunication network via higher layer signaling;

the first sequence ID is a UE-specific sequence ID assigned to the UE;

the first sequence ID is a UE group-specific sequence ID assigned to aUE group to which the UE belongs;

the first SRS is to be sent by the UE using a first time and frequencyresource that at least partially overlaps with a second time andfrequency resource used by a second UE to send a second SRS, wherein theUEs are served by respective subsets of at least one transmit/receivepoint in the same cell;

further comprising: determining, at the UE, a third SRS sequence root asa function of at least a third sequence ID and a third SRS sequencelength; generating, at the UE, a third SRS sequence based at least inpart on the third SRS sequence root; and sending, from the UE, the thirdSRS sequence as part of the first SRS;

the third SRS sequence in the first SRS fully overlaps time andfrequency resource elements with a fourth SRS sequence sent by thesecond UE as part of the second SRS; and the third and fourth SRSsequences are orthogonal;

the third and fourth SRS sequence roots are the same; and the fourth SRSsequence is a cyclic shift of the third SRS sequence;

the first and second SRS sequence roots are different; and the first SRSsequence in the first SRS is non-overlapping with the second SRSsequence in the second SRS;

sending the first SRS sequence as at least part of the first SRScomprises mapping the first SRS sequence to physical resources based ona network configurable number of allowed SRS bandwidths;

further comprising determining, at the UE, the number of allowed SRSbandwidths based on an identifier that is specific to the UE or specificto a UE group to which the UE belongs;

the SRS sequences are Zadoff-Chu sequences.

The example operations 1050 are illustrative of an example embodiment.Various ways to perform the illustrated operations, as well as examplesof other operations that may be performed, are described herein. Furthervariations may be or become apparent.

FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram representation of a NRtransmit/receive point in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. A high-level description of a transmit/receive point 1102that can be used in the NR system described above is illustrated. Thetransmit/receive point 1102 generally includes a control system 1106, abaseband processor 1108, memory 1118, transmit circuitry 1110, receivecircuitry 1112, multiple antennas 1114, and interfaces 1116 which caninclude network interfaces including an X2 interface, or subsets andvariations thereof. The memory 1118 may be any type of memory capable ofstoring software and data. The receive circuitry 1112 receives radiofrequency signals bearing information from one or more remote UE's aswill be described in conjunction with FIG. 19. A low noise amplifier anda filter (not shown) may be used to amplify and remove broadbandinterference from the signal for processing. Down-conversion anddigitization circuitry (not shown) will then down convert the filtered,received signal to an intermediate or baseband frequency signal, whichis then digitized into one or more digital streams.

The baseband processor 1108 processes the digitized received signal toextract the information or data bits conveyed in the received signal.This processing typically comprises demodulation, decoding, and errorcorrection operations. As such, the baseband processor 1108 is generallyimplemented in one or more DSPs or application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs). The received information is then sent to an associatednetwork via the network interface 1116 or transmitted to another mobileterminal 1104 serviced by the base station 1102. Amongst other thingsbaseband processor 1108 can perform channel estimation as describeabove.

On the transmit side, the baseband processor 1108 receives digitizeddata, which may represent voice, data, or control information, from thenetwork interface 1116 under the control of the control system 1106, andencodes the data for transmission. The encoded data is output to thetransmit circuitry 1110, where it is modulated by a carrier signalhaving a desired transmit frequency or frequencies. A power amplifier(not shown) will amplify the modulated carrier signal to a levelappropriate for transmission, and deliver the modulated carrier signalto the antennas 1114 through a matching network (not shown). Modulationand processing details are described in greater detail below. In oneembodiment of the present disclosure, the base station 1102 transmitssignals using both antennas 1114, but receives signals using a singleantenna 1114.

With respect to the central access units describe earlier, a similararchitecture to that for a transmit/receive point in FIG. 19 could beused but with different interfaces and transmit/receive circuitry. Forexample, the transmit/receive circuitry may be for optical, DSL or anyother communication scheme. If collocated with a transmit/receive point,a central access unit could reuse the baseband processor and othercomponents of the transmit/receive point as necessary (e.g. interfacesfor communicating with other transmit/receive points).

FIG. 20 illustrates a block diagram representation of a NR UE inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. A high-leveldescription of the components of UE 1202 is shown. Similarly, to thetransmit/receive point 1102, the UE 1202 will include a control system1218, a baseband processor 1220, memory 1222, transmit circuitry 1222,receive circuitry 1224, multiple antennas 1226, and user interfacecircuitry 1228, or subsets and variations thereof. The receive circuitry1224 receives radio frequency signals bearing information from one ormore base stations 1202. Preferably, a low noise amplifier and a filter(not shown) cooperate to amplify and remove broadband interference fromthe signal for processing. Down conversion and digitization circuitry(not shown) will then down convert the filtered, received signal to anintermediate or baseband frequency signal, which is then digitized intoone or more digital streams.

The baseband processor 1220 processes the digitized received signal toextract the information or data bits conveyed in the received signal.This processing typically comprises demodulation, decoding, and errorcorrection operations, as will be discussed in greater detail below. Thebaseband processor 1220 is generally implemented in one or more DSP,ASIC, or both.

For transmission, the baseband processor 1220 receives digitized data,which may represent voice, data, or control information, from thecontrol system 1218 or the interface circuitry 1228, which it encodesfor transmission. The encoded data is output to the transmit circuitry1222, where it is used by a modulator to modulate a carrier signal thatis at a desired transmit frequency or frequencies. A power amplifier(not shown) will amplify the modulated carrier signal to a levelappropriate for transmission, and deliver the modulated carrier signalto the antennas 1226 through a matching network (not shown). The UE 1204may receive signals using both antennas 1226, but transmits signalsusing a single antenna 1226. Various modulation and processingtechniques available to those skilled in the art are applicable. Amongstother things, baseband processor 1220 can generate SRSs as describedabove. Specifically, baseband processor 1220 can generate SRSs based onconfiguration information received from the network.

In OFDM modulation, the transmission band is divided into multiple,orthogonal carrier waves. Each carrier wave is modulated according tothe digital data to be transmitted. Because OFDM divides thetransmission band into multiple carriers, the bandwidth per carrierdecreases and the modulation time per carrier increases. Since themultiple carriers are transmitted in parallel, the transmission rate forthe digital data, or symbols, on any given carrier is lower than when asingle carrier is used.

OFDM modulation may require the performance of an Inverse DiscreteFourier Transform (IDFT) on the information to be transmitted. Fordemodulation, the performance of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) onthe received signal is required to recover the transmitted information.In practice, the IDFT and DFT may be provided by digital signalprocessing carrying out an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) andFast Fourier Transform (FFT), respectively. Accordingly, thecharacterizing feature of OFDM modulation is that orthogonal carrierwaves are generated for multiple bands within a transmission channel.The modulated signals are digital signals having a relatively lowtransmission rate and capable of staying within their respective bands.The individual carrier waves are not modulated directly by the digitalsignals. Instead, all carrier waves are modulated at once by IFFTprocessing.

Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) modulation differs from OFDM modulation inthat SC-FDMA uses a DFT block before mapping symbols to sub-carriers andthat it uses a parallel-to-serial unit after the IFDT block. OtherwiseSC-FDMA modulation is otherwise similar to OFDM modulation.

OFDM is used for at least the downlink transmission from the basestations 1102 to the mobile terminals 1204. Each base station 1102 isequipped with n transmit antennas 1114, and each mobile terminal 1204 isequipped with m receive antennas 1226. Notably, the respective antennascan be used for reception and transmission using appropriate duplexersor switches and are so labeled only for clarity.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “configured to,” “operably coupled to,” “coupled to,” and/or“coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/or indirectcoupling between items via an intervening item (e.g., an item includes,but is not limited to, a component, an element, a circuit, and/or amodule) where, for an example of indirect coupling, the intervening itemdoes not modify the information of a signal but may adjust its currentlevel, voltage level, and/or power level. As may further be used herein,inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another elementby inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two items inthe same manner as “coupled to”. As may even further be used herein, theterm “configured to,” “operable to,” “coupled to,” or “operably coupledto” indicates that an item includes one or more of power connections,input(s), output(s), etc., to perform, when activated, one or more itscorresponding functions and may further include inferred coupling to oneor more other items. As may still further be used herein, the term“associated with,” includes direct and/or indirect coupling of separateitems and/or one item being embedded within another item.

As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably” or equivalent,indicates that a comparison between two or more items, signals, etc.,provides a desired relationship. For example, when the desiredrelationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, afavorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude of signal 1 isgreater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude of signal 2 is lessthan that of signal 1.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module,” “processingcircuit,” “processor,” “baseband processor,” and/or “processing unit” ortheir equivalents may be a single processing device or a plurality ofprocessing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor,micro-controller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, centralprocessing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logicdevice, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/ordigital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operationalinstructions. The processing module, module, processing circuit, and/orprocessing unit may be, or further include, memory and/or an integratedmemory element, which may be a single memory device, a plurality ofmemory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of another processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit. Such a memory devicemay be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory,non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cachememory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Note that ifthe processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processingunit includes more than one processing device, the processing devicesmay be centrally located (e.g., directly coupled together via a wiredand/or wireless bus structure) or may be distributed (e.g., cloudcomputing via indirect coupling via a local area network and/or a widearea network). Further note that if the processing module, module,processing circuit, and/or processing unit implements one or more of itsfunctions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing thecorresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, orexternal to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further notethat, the memory element may store, and the processing module, module,processing circuit, and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/oroperational instructions corresponding to at least some of the stepsand/or functions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such amemory device or memory element can be included in an article ofmanufacture.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure have been described above withthe aid of method steps illustrating the performance of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence ofthese functional building blocks and method steps have been arbitrarilydefined herein for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries andsequences can be defined so long as the specified functions andrelationships are appropriately performed. Any such alternate boundariesor sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claims.Further, the boundaries of these functional building blocks have beenarbitrarily defined for convenience of description. Alternate boundariescould be defined as long as the certain significant functions areappropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also havebeen arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certain significantfunctionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram block boundaries andsequence could have been defined otherwise and still perform the certainsignificant functionality. Such alternate definitions of both functionalbuilding blocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus withinthe scope and spirit of the claimed technique. One of average skill inthe art will also recognize that the functional building blocks, andother illustrative blocks, modules and components herein, can beimplemented as illustrated or by discrete components, applicationspecific integrated circuits, processing circuitries, processorsexecuting appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

The one or more embodiments are used herein to illustrate one or moreaspects, one or more features, one or more concepts, and/or one or moreexamples of the disclosure. A physical embodiment of an apparatus, anarticle of manufacture, a machine, and/or of a process may include oneor more of the aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc. describedwith reference to one or more of the embodiments discussed herein.Further, from figure to figure, the embodiments may incorporate the sameor similarly named functions, steps, modules, etc. that may use the sameor different reference numbers and, as such, the functions, steps,modules, etc. may be the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc.or different ones.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/orbetween elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein maybe analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-endedor differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as asingle-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path.Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it alsorepresents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particulararchitectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise beimplemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, directconnectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between otherelements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of theone or more embodiments have been expressly described herein, othercombinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. Thepresent disclosure of the disclosure is not limited by the particularexamples disclosed herein and expressly incorporates these othercombinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of generating sounding reference signalsin a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving,at a user equipment (UE), configuration information pertaining to afirst sequence identifier (ID); determining, at the UE, a firstplurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) sequence roots as afunction of the first sequence ID; generating, at the UE, a firstplurality of SRS sequences based in part on the first plurality of SRSsequence roots; and sending, from the UE, the first plurality of SRSsequences as at least part of a first SRS.